The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has established the Civil Aviation Decarbonisation Organisation (CADO) to manage the IATA-developed Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) Registry when its released.

CADO is a not-for-profit organisation based out of Montreal. As its founding member, IATA’s role in CADO will include ongoing technical support and operations.

To be eligible for CADO membership, organisations must meet one of the following three requirements.

They must be, either: organisations that operate in or contribute directly to the SAF value chain or represent associations or groups of participants within the chain; states or quasi-state organisations with a direct interest in the SAF Registry’s operations and benefits; or related interest groups indirectly benefiting from SAF deployed in the aviation system.

Marie Owens Thomsen, IATA’s senior vice president of sustainability and chief economist, said: “CADO will turbo-charge the imminent launch of the IATA-developed SAF Registry. Its mandate is to manage the SAF Registry as a separate entity from IATA with an open and global approach that supports the scrutiny needed to build trust among all stakeholders.

“In fact, the door is open for any stakeholder in the SAF value chain, including governments, to join CADO. This inclusive approach should also be a force for the harmonisation of the principles on which all SAF registries operate.”

IATA is developing the SAF Registry as a global system to record SAF transactions in a standardised and transparent way.

It will ensure the environmental benefits of SAF can be tracked throughout the SAF value chain and allow airlines and other corporations to use the benefit claims to meet regulatory obligations and voluntary commitments.

SAF supply is scarce, only available in a few places worldwide, so the goal of the SAF registry is to help solve the shortage problem by connecting airlines with SAF producers and suppliers regardless of geographic location.

It will also provide airlines’ corporate customers with access to in-sector emissions reductions and capitalise on financial clients’ capacities to co-finance the cost of decarbonisation.

SAF Registry participation will be free until April 2027, after which the price will be determined on a cost-recovery basis.

Willie Walsh, director general of IATA, also commented: “The SAF Registry is a critical piece of market infrastructure that is indispensable in building a global, transparent, and liquid global market for SAF.

“The industry’s commitment to build the Registry and establish CADO to manage it should inspire governments, fossil fuel producers, and investors to engage in the SAF market with commensurate vigor.”

Walsh added: “Ramping-up SAF production is the common goal and the structure we are putting in place with CADO is an important step in moving decarbonisation forward.”